


Babysit a 19 years old child

by Haze_Cos



Series: Stingue Collection (ENG) [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dorks, Dorks in Love, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Kid Natsu, M/M, Natsu is Sting's little brother, Self Prompt, Sting can't cook, Strangers to Friends, babysitting au, because i can't write something short, but now it's a multi chapter fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:02:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haze_Cos/pseuds/Haze_Cos
Summary: Rogue spends the weekend with a family to look after two children while the parents leave. He clearly didn't expect to keep a 7-year-old brawler and a 19-year-old boy who does not know how to cook.Basically, it just had to be an OS, but since I don’t know how to write something short, it became a story of several chapters.French translation available!Arts in all chapters! :)
Relationships: Rogue Cheney & Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe
Series: Stingue Collection (ENG) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742572
Comments: 8
Kudos: 16





	1. Friday night at a new family

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Garder un enfant de 19 ans](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24234499) by [Haze_Cos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haze_Cos/pseuds/Haze_Cos). 



> Characters don't belong to me!  
> Arts and story belong to me (Tumblr: have-draw / Insta: haze_draw).
> 
> I'm French and I don't have beta-reader... so I'm sorry if my english is not perfect, don't hesitate to correct me! Especially for french expressions that I tried to translate in english... (my brain blow up at page 5/10 during the translation...).
> 
> Basically it was just supposed to be an OS, but since I wrote 10 pages on what happens on Friday night, I am obliged to do several chapters...  
> I don’t know exactly how many there will be, but I’m counting on a 4 or 5!
> 
> I will try to update at least once a week, but the writing process is quite long...  
> I write the story in French (which already takes at least two days), then I correct it. Then I do the English translation (alone) and correct it, which takes several days. And finally I do the drawings, which takes me at least two days if I do several.  
> So if I don’t post every week, be nice please :3
> 
> French version available ! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to useless_slytherclaw for their help !

Rogue quietly parked his car in front of a large house, located in a residential area outside the city center. He put the hand brake on before checking the address on his phone, looking at the house again. Feeling a little nervous, he got out of his car and picked up his backpack, before heading home. He passed the gate, left open for him, and glanced at the garden of the house in which he was going to spend the weekend, while advancing towards the door.

Rogue had been called last weekend by a woman, telling him that she had found his number at city hall. It was not uncommon for people to call him and introduce themselves like that, since he offered his services as a babysitter to make some pocket money.

She asked him if he was free to babysit all weekend. The young man was surprised by the request. He had initially been a little reluctant, having never kept a child so long without an adult nearby. However, the woman had promised him a large sum of money, far exceeding what he usually took for the total hours. After a moment of reflection, he had finally accepted, unable to refuse such a sum.

She briefly explained to him that he should to watch two children, but that one would be truly autonomous, so he would have to worry about the younger one. She also told him that she would make him a room for the weekend, so he would not have to worry about going home at night. They hung up after setting up an appointment for Friday afternoon.

Rogue stopped at the door, readjusting his bag on his shoulder, before ringing. He swallowed a little, anticipating the encounter with children that he had never kept.

A woman with colored hair, having passed her forties, opened to him, incredibly joyful.

"Oh hello, you must be Rogue ! Come in, make yourself at home." She said to him, pushing herself to let him pass.

"Good afternoon, madam."

Rogue passed through the door and quickly took off his shoes in the entrance before reaching out to his host. She shook it, enthusiastically.

"You’re so polite. My name is Sukia. I thank you so much for coming. No babysitter agrees to spend a whole weekend babysitting, you were kind of our last hope."

"Nice to meet you. No worries, however, I should work for my classes."

"There will be no problem, the youngest at seven, he can take care of himself most of the time." She said, smiling.

She advanced into the entrance, telling him to follow her. She briefly showed him the kitchen, directly to the right, indicating that the fridge was full and that she had left some money to her eldest son if they ever wanted to do groceries. Then, They passed a staircase, where she explained that bedrooms and bathroom were upstairs. Finally, they arrived in a large living room - dining room with a large bay window overlooking another part of garden. A man of about fifty years was waiting, turning away from sight when his wife arrived.

"Nice to meet you, young man. I’m the father of the monsters that you will keep. My name is Weisslogia, but you can call me Weiss."

"Nice to meet you."

They shook hands, while the woman explained that they were going away for the weekend as a couple. They easily discussed long minutes, Rogue relaxing thanks to the kindness of the couple.

Finally, a young boy carefully walked down the stairs, taking a look in the living room. He seemed to be assessing the situation.

"Ah ! This is Natsu, our youngest son." Weiss announced.

"He’s the one you’ll have to worry about the most. Natsu, say hello please."

The young boy with pink hair cautiously advanced towards the group before placing himself behind his father, watching Rogue.

Rogue looked back at him, while the mother laughed.

"Natsu is a bit wild, but he isn’t mean. Once you get to know him, everything will be better."

Rogue nodded his head before introducing himself to Natsu and explaining that he was going to keep him all weekend.

The young boy looked at him a little more before coming towards him.

"Fight against me ! You look strong !"

Rogue stood up, surprised, not knowing what to say, before turning to the parents.

"Son, we have already said that a well-behaved young man didn’t pick a fight, even less with adults." His father softly scolded.

"Don’t worry, he’s really not mean. He just reads a lot of comics."

"I see." Replied Rogue, a little less sure than when he arrived.

"He won’t hit you or anything. Of course, you can’t start a fight too." The father laughs.

"Yes, I’m not used to fighting with the children I keep." Rogue laughed gently, a little anxious.

The mother smiled before giving her son a harsh look, making him clearly understand the message: no fighting during their absence.

"Hm… It seemed to me that you had specified that I should to watch two children ?" Rogue asked.

"Yes, his older brother must be in his room." Sukia said. "I’ll go to get him."

She left for the floor, while the father laughed.

"Knowing Sting, he must be pouting."

"Pouting ?"

"Yeah, he got upset to get someone to babysit him and Natsu. He thinks he’s old enough to take care of him and his brother."

Rogue nodded. He remembered having the same reaction at a younger age, when his parents didn’t want to leave him alone for more than a day, even if he was fourteen years old. He turned to the stairs and heard Sukia come down, accompanied by her first son. However, Rogue didn’t expect to find himself in front of a young man who appeared to be of legal age. He was a little taller than himself, with blond wild hair and big blue eyes.

To Rogue’s surprise, the blond looked a little more sulky. He quickly heard the boy introduce himself. Rogue stammered his own name to introduce himself as well. Weiss laughed once more, before speaking :

"As you can see, Sting is 19."

"I didn’t expect to keep a child of my age." Rogue announced softly.

"We’ll say that Sting doesn’t really know how to take care of himself." Weiss laughs.

Sting seemed offended, dropping his muddy attitude to be more vindictive.

"I know how to care of myself ! I could have taken care of Natsu too."

"Honey, it’s not that we don’t trust you… but you can’t even cook pasta properly. I don’t want both of you eating takeouts all weekend. Rogue was kind enough to help you take care of Natsu, so be nice."

"Plus, you two will keep company." The blond’s father added, in a teasing tone.

His son took a little more offence, his cheeks red, before quickly climbing upstairs. Weiss laughed, announcing that it was so easy to tease Sting.

Finally, they gave him the last necessary information so that Natsu could continue at the rate. Sukia also indicated that all emergency numbers were on the fridge.

Then they left, leaving Rogue alone with a turbulent seven-year-old boy and a boy his age, who is to fall to the ground. He was going to have to survive a little over 48 hours.

"What did I do to deserve this ?" He whispered for himself as he entered the house.

Rogue picked up his bag and went up the stairs to his room. It wasn’t very big, but it will be enough for him this week end. He began to open his bag, unpacking his stuff a little and taking advantage of this pause to think.

Natsu seemed pretty turbulent. He greatly hoped that his mother was right and that he could take care of himself part of the day, to enable Rogue to work. He also hoped he wasn’t a daredevil. He didn’t particularly want to finish the weekend in the hospital.

Sting, on the other hand… it was still to be defined. He seemed to have a character as strong as his brother, as little as he had seen. However, the fact that jumped out at him was that he was really attractive to look at.

Rogue sighed. He had no problem with his sexuality. He knew for many years that what mattered most to him was a person’s personality, not their gender. Nevertheless, he couldn’t ignore that Sting was part of the top of the basket, and that he would have to behave normally and not as a blushing disaster.

Once his stuff was unpacked, he walked out of the room, coming face to face with is new weekend roommate. The blond was standing at the door, not the least surprised that it opened. He had to wait here for Rogue to finish.

They remained to look at each other for a few seconds, while Rogue wondered why the blond came to wait for him at the door to stare at him like this. His mind began to wander towards the worst scenarios. What would he do if he had violent tendencies like the little one ? Of course, Rogue knew how to defend himself, but Sting seemed more muscular than him. What if he was a drug dealer, and he was afraid he’d search too much ? The worst case his mind offered him, was that the blond was a serial killer, but before he could venture too far down this path of thought, the blond cleared his throat, bringing Rogue back to the present situation.

"I’m sorry… for my old man." Sting said, with the cheeks a little red.

"About what ?"

The blond guy seemed a little uncomfortable.

"For his comment about the company… Since I told him I wasn’t just interested in girls, he doesn’t miss one to mock me. I just hope he didn’t make you uncomfortable…"

Rogue blushed, really understanding the meaning of the phrase that Weiss had said. He tried to look detached, answering the blond :

"Don’t worry, it’s okay. I didn’t even get the hint, to be honest."

The blond appeared even more embarrassed, understanding that he put himself in this situation.

"My father is exactly the same as yours, they would get along well." Rogue tried to reassure him. "Just last week he tried to fix me up with the cashier at the grocery store down the street."

Sting looked at him for a second before his gaze lightened a little. He seemed to have understood Rogue’s allusion. He wanted him to understand that he wasn’t uncomfortable with Sting’s attraction to boys, and that he was himself in this case as well. He wanted to make him comfortable.

Internally, Rogue was more than enthusiastic. Barely an hour he was here, and it turned out that the very handsome boy he would be living with on the weekend was not interested only in girls. He was at the limit of texting Sting’s father to thank him for his unfortunate sentence.

Sting smiled while rubbing the back of his head.

"Can I show you the house ?"

"With pleasure."

This is how he ends up following Sting in every corner of the house. He showed him every room and every useful closet, especially in the kitchen and bathroom. Then, they spent the rest of the time getting acquainted in the living room.

They mainly talked about their studies and hobbies in the beginning. It turned out that Sting and Rogue went to the same university, but they didn’t follow the same curriculum at all. Sting had turned to studies related to health and sport while Rogue was pursuing a literary programme. He also learned that Sting was very sporty and that he would run every morning. So he shouldn’t worry if he doesn’t find him at home in the morning.

Rogue briefly told him of his penchant for writing and foreign mythology, telling him that he would love to publish later. Sting confessed not to be a big fan of reading, being rather energetic in nature.

Then they dealt with various subjects. Sting, noticing the scar that Snape was trying to hide behind his bands, told him of his own scar on his temple. He told him that he had wanted to climb up a park swing when he was little, and that he had obviously fallen. Rogue timidly told that his was from a car accident when he was younger. He released his bangs to show the scar that crossed his nose and almost went up to his right eye. He let it fall back soon after.

"Why do you hide your scar with your fringe ?" Sting asked.

"It’s not really beautiful to look at." Rogue admitted.

He stopped there, not wanting to continue babbling about is low self-esteem. Rogue was not particularly handsome. He had black hair that made him look hard and bloody red eyes that made him look demonic. The scar only added an unsightly element to his face.

Sting pouted.

"I think you are very pretty." Sting said, having read between the lines. "Scars don’t make us ugly, they make us unique beings who have lived stories. So this scar doesn’t make you ugly at all, Rogue. Besides, I think you have really beautiful eyes."

Rogue, who didn’t expect this response, stared at Sting, feeling his cheeks burn gradually. However, he quickly turned away, cursing himself inwardly to blush at the slightest compliment. He was looking for something to look at to calm down when he fell on the clock in the living room.

"Oh, it’s almost half past six. I have to start making dinner." Rogue said as he stood up.

Sting smiled, not at all disturbed by the change of subject. He watched Rogue go to the kitchen before following in his footsteps. When he entered the kitchen, he observed Rogue looking at what he had available in the fridge, taking the opportunity to observe him a little better.

When Rogue turned towards him, Sting hurriedly looked up to his face, hoping he hadn’t been caught in the act.

"There’s enough to make noodles with chicken and vegetables, it will be okay ?" Rogue asked, seeing nothing.

"Yes, it will be fine. Natsu loves noodles."

"Like all children of his age." Rogue sneered before taking out the different foods. 

Sting approached and searched the closets to pull out all the utensils that Rogue might need.

"Can I help you ?"

Rogue turned to him, seeming to weigh the pros and cons.

"No offense, but your mother said you couldn’t even cook pasta…"

"Yes, I admit that cooking isn’t my strong suit, but I’m sure I can still help you do something. I can cut vegetables, if you show me how you want me to do it." Sting proposed with a charming smile.

"As long as you promise not to cut off your finger, because I refuse to go to the hospital at this jour." Rogue joked.

"I promise you !"

They had washed their hands before Rogue showed him how to cut the vegetables, making sure Sting understood the trick of not cutting himself. He watched Sting do it, checking that everything was fine, before settling by his side and starting to cup the chicken breasts.

Sting cut the different vegetables, trying to focus only on his talk. It turned out that it was pretty hard to stay focused when a cute boy worked next to you and spent his time rubbing his arm against yours. He looked up for a moment, checking that Rogue was working, before definitely trying to look at him by cutting the vegetables.

He managed to cut some pieces before the knife ripens against his finger, cutting it. Sting yelped of surprise, dropping the knife and carrying his finger to his mouth.

"That’s what happens when you’re more busy watching the babysitter than cutting the vegetables." Rogue said, teasing him.

Sting growled, blushing, before going to rinse his hands. Finally, he had been less discreet than he had thought. The blond went to take care of his finger in the bathroom before returning to his task.

It took them half an hour of preparation before Rogue put all the ingredients to cook in a wok. It was at this moment that the youngest passed his head through the door, attracted by the smell.

"Oh, you’re here, Natsu !" Sting exclaimed.

The young boy approached and tried to look at what was cooking. He squinted his eyes realizing it was vegetables.

"Don’t worry Natsu. There will be noodles with that." Sting said, blowing Natsu’s hair away. "But you’ll still have to eat the vegetables."

"Yeah…" Natsu said, being skeptical.

"By the way Natsu, it seems to me that your mom said you had to take your bath before eating. It’s time to go." Rogue added.

The little one gave him a little impressed look before pulling his tongue.

"I do what I want, you’re not my father."

"Natsu…" Sting began.

"Leave me do Sting. I got it."

Sting looked up to Rogue to make sure he had heard right. He fell in front of Rogue, who was also staring at him, very sure of himself. Sting made a gesture, letting him doit.

Rogue knelt in front of Natsu. The boy had his arms crossed and his head held high, firmly locked in his position.

"Natsu, please look at me." Rogue asked, in a calm voice.

Natsu kept his position and Rogue repeated himself, in the same tone. However, Natsu didn’t move. Sting watched them. He wasn’t for big fights that ended in war, but Rogue wasn’t going to move Natsu with only polite demands.

"Now, you look at me." Rogue ordered as calmly as possible.

The young boy opened an eye to look at the brown, before obeying and turning to him.

"Well, thank you for obeying. Now, you have to go to the bath. If you don’t take a bath, some bad monsters stay on your body, and they’re not good for you. Imagine if you eat and the bad monsters come in through your mouth, what are we going to do ?"

Natsu looked at him, saying nothing.

"For the bad monsters to go, you have to take a bath before eating. So go ahead, please."

"Okay."

Rogue got up as Natsu ran into the bathroom. Sting looked at him, amazed. Rogue had stood up to Natsu without getting upset, speaking calmly to him and had obtained what he wanted.

"I worship you."

"Excuse me ?" Rogue asked, blushing.

"Natsu obeyed you without making a fuss, and you didn’t even have to yell ! Tell me your secret ! Teach me yo hypnotize him like that !"

"I didn’t hypnotize him." Rogue sneered, while he put noodles to cook.

"Then explain to me how you did it."

Rogue lowered the fire while smiling. He turned to Sting and leaned against the work plan.

"It’s very simple. I started babysitting when I was 16. I saw a lot of child crises. I learned, as I went along, that yelling at a child was useless in most cases and even less for a whim. I just have to talk to him calmly, usually they aren’t used to and are destabilized by the fan that I don’t scream. Then I make him understand why he has to do it, with words and situations that he can understand at his level. Natsu seems like an imaginative child, so I used elements he could easily visualize to make him do what I wanted."

Sting was speechless by Rogue’s pedagogy. He didn’t think it could be so easy to make a child do something.

Suddenly, he realized something.

"It’s kind of like mental manipulation, right ? With this method, you could make me do anything, too?"

"That’s right, I could use the same method on you. However, since you are older and have more life experience, it would not work or really not for long. I’d have to be super discreet and dangle a carrot in front of your nose." Rogue laughed.

"I’m currently divided between being very afraid of what you could do and totally approving the peaceful method."

They both laughed before falling into an easy discussion, waiting for the food to cook. Natsu returned after his bath, extremely proud to have gotten rid of the ugly monsters. He told them how he had made war on them in the bath. The young men listened to him smiling, Sting entering his game, checking if he had gotten rid of all the monsters.

Then, they had a pleasant dinner, appreciating the fact that Natsu was calm.

When Natsu left the table, Rogue began to get up to clean up the kitchen, but Sting stepped in.

"Let me clean up and do the dishes."

Seeing that the brown man was going to retaliate, he insisted that he had already cooked for them and that clean up was the least he could do to help.

"Okay, fine. I’m going to take a shower then." Rogue said, smiling.

Sting found himself alone while Rogue leaves upstairs. He set about his task, thanking that Rogue was organized and that the kitchen wasn’t a mess. He stuffed as much as he could, into the dishwasher before looking at the buttons. Admitting defeated, he thought that indeed, fortunately that Rogue had come for the weekend. He’d ask him how to turn on the dishwater when he comes down.

He washed the rest of the stuff by hand and threw a sponge over the table and work plan.

Once this was done, he headed upstairs, hoping to take a shower as well. His timing was pretty good, since Rogue was coming out of the bathroom at the same time. He was dressed in a discolored oversized hoodie and shorts, while his hair was still wet and fell on his face.

Sting told him the problem with the dishwasher, watching Rogue mock him. The brown guy went down to start the appliance while Sting took his place in the bathroom.

His thoughts drifted under warm water. Rogue was really attractive and incredibly kind. He was really upset about having a babysitter for the weekend, but eventually he was going to have the coolest weekend in a long time. Just the thought of Rogue in his hoodie three times too big, made his cheeks warm.

Turning the temperature to freezing, he hurried to finish his shower, promising to text his parents on his way out.

When Sting went down, wearing a jog and a croc-top, he found Rogue sitting on the sofa, a book and something to write on his lap. He seemed focused on what he was doing, as Sting approached as silently as possible. He stood behind him and leaned over to see what he was doing.

"You know that I heard you come down the stairs and that I have your breath in my neck ?"

Rogue turned to him, his cheeks red, while Sing pulled back with surprise, their faces being too close to each other. Rogue’s gaze drifted over his abdomen, not covered by the croc-tip, before turning away, blushing a little more.

"Are you enjoying my abs ?" Sting teases him.

"You really are the worst. If you wear this on purpose, I’ll complain to your parents." Rogue kindly threatened.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s just my pajamas, although I admit that seeing you blushing is very pleasant."

"Stop teasing me."

Sting went around the couch, smiling, and landed next to Rogue. Sting was quite impressed with the ease with which they could discuss when they had only know each other for a few hours. It was like they met years ago.

The brown closed his book by making the page, then placed it on the coffee table. Sting was going to ask what it was like when a pink-haired tornado came into the living room.

"Can we watch a movie ?!" Natsu asked with joy.

"We use a little word called « please »." Sting reprimanded.

"Please, can we watch a movie, Rogue !"

The dark-haired man looked at the time, judging that he was still quite early and nodded to the little one. Natsu rushed to open the TV furniture, looking for an interesting film. He brought _The Emperor’s New Groove_ , with begging eyes. Sting laughed before getting up to launch the film. When he returned, Natsu had already taken his place next to Rogue. He had no choice but to sit on the other side of the child, already regretting the lack of proximity with the babysitter. Rogue gave him a subtle look, clearly aware of his distress, before throwing a mocking smile at him.

Sting pulled his tongue out, causing a laugh of the brown.

They watched the film together, making fun of the lama and his adventures. Once the film finished, Natsu rubbed his eyes.

"Go champion, it’s time to go to sleep." Rogue said.

Natsu nodded before the brown guy got up and gently dragged him upstairs to bed. Sting watched them disappear before getting up to put away the DVD and watch what other movies they had. It wasn’t ten hours yet, so maybe Rogue would agree to watch a second movie.

When the brown guy came down, he announced he was ready for a second film. He knelt next to Sting, in front of the furniture, to help him choose. Rogue looked at the various films, trying to hold his fringe behind his ear to see better.

Sting found himself bewitched by the profile of his comrade, only realizing too late that he was now staring at a pair of red eyes.

"Now you don’t even try to look discreet." Rogue gently mocked.

"It’s not my fault you have such a pretty face." Sting replied.

"Stop fooling yourself… I was asking if a Miyazaki film was okay ?"

"Yes, totally."

They launched the film, sitting back on the couch. Rogue drew closer to Sting, enough for their shoulders to touch as _Princess Mononoke_ began on television. Sting turned his gaze to him, in a silent question. Rogue replied only with a smile before focusing on the film.

They stayed like this until the end credits scroll. Rogue finally got up, announcing that he was going to bed. Sting nodded, turning off the TV. They went upstairs together before saying each other good night.

Rogue disappeared into his room under Sting’s gaze, who did the same. He programmed an alarm on his phone and settled into his bed, before closing his eyes to spend a well-deserved night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Do not hesitate to comment and to correct me if necessary!
> 
> I’m not a professional pedagogy with children, I just wrote down my feelings about it. I’m sorry if that’s not the reality.


	2. A sunny Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first real day of babysitting for Rogue. Hoping that everything goes well...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters don't belong to me!  
> Arts and story belong to me (Tumblr: have-draw / Insta: haze_draw).
> 
> I'm French and I don't have beta-reader... so I'm sorry if my english is not perfect, don't hesitate to correct me!
> 
> The next chapter will close the "first arc" of the fic. Finally, I intend to do more than 4 chapters, I still extend too much in my narrative. Potentially 5 or 6, with a shorter epilogue chapter.
> 
> DISCLAIMER!  
> This chapter can potentially "shock" people.  
> I mention : depression, school phobia, school harassment. It's only during a conversation, nothing is described in depth, but I still prefer to warn.  
> There is also mention of injuries, nothing very described. (I don't think it is necessary to change the rating of the fic, but give me your opinion).
> 
> Thank you to useless_slytherclaw for their help

It was barely nine o’clock when Rogue opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm. He cut it quickly before closing them again, weighing the pros and cons of going back to sleep for a few minutes. He and Sting hadn’t been up late, but spending the night in an unknown room and memories of a blond with azure eyes had managed to keep him awake.

He got up, grabbing his elastic to tie his tangled hair to a botched bun. Grabbing his phone, he slowly opened the door. As he was headed for the stairs, he noticed that Natsu’s door was still closed, a sign that he still had to sleep.

However, Sting’s was wide open, leaving a great glimpse of his room. Rogue approached, just to see if he wasn’t there, and was greeted by more bazaars than he had ever seen. The whole room was covered with loose clothing, clean or not. Many magazines and comics were dragging around the bed, accompanied by various empty cake packages. The office, on the other hand, was full of papers and study manuals.

Rogue retreated, briefly wondering how Sting could live in such a mess. For a moment, the idea of tidying things crossed his mind, but he quickly repulsed his manic instinct and closed the door before going down stairs. He’ll just make Sting do some tidying up.

When he entered the living room, he realized that Sting wasn’t there. He wasn’t yet back from his morning run. The brown came to the kitchen when he heard small steps on the stairs. Natsu joined him, grabbing his hoodie with one hand and rubbing eyes with the other hand.

"Hello Natsu, did you sleep well ?"

The youngest nodded is head.

"Do you want to take your breakfast ? Come here."

Rogue took him into the kitchen, asking him what he wanted to eat. The boy pointed to the cereal cupboard, explaining what he usually took. The dark-haired man prepared Natsu’s breakfast and laid it in front of him.

"Do you know what time your brother usually gets home ?"

Natsu lifted his eyes from his bowl to look at the time on the oven.

"He should be here soon?"

"All right, does he having breakfast before he leaves ?"

"No, he eats when he comes back."

Rogue nodded as he listened to the little one who listed him what his brother ate in the morning. Rogue was gonna make his own breakfast, so he might as well make Sting’s at the same time. The babysitter stopped to look at Natsu, surprised, as the list of what he ate grew longer. Turns out the blond ate like four in the morning.

He launched the coffee machine before digging through the various closets in search of the ingredients. He grilled many slices of bread. He took out juices, the milk and oatmeal. Then, he caught some fruit to prepare two small fruit salads.

He placed everything on the table when the door opened. Sting entered the kitchen, wiping his sweaty face with his shirt, displaying his abs. Rogue crossed his arms, looking at him as he did the same thing to him as yesterday.

When Sting released his shirt, he displayed a mocking smile to Rogue’s gaze.

"I’m really going to end up texting your parents, be careful."

"Poor little thing, admit you like the view anyway."

"Maybe when I’m not your babysitter anymore."

Sting laughed and noticed the table. He realized that his breakfast was already ready.

"You made all my breakfast ?"

"Natsu told me that you were eating after your run, so I did yours at the same time as mine."

The blond smiled a little more, sitting at the table, looking at all the food. He began to pour the different elements into his bowl.

"Can I marry you, please ?"

"Already, ask me on a date, before you want to marry me." Rogue replied, sitting down too.

The blond shoved a toast in his mouth, trying to give Rogue a smile.

They spent breakfast chatting and laughing before Rogue left to get ready in the bathroom, leaving the storage to Sting.

When the blond came down after a well-deserved shower, he found Rogue at the dining-room table, working on the same book as the day before. He approached, leaning on the table in front of the brown.

"Is this place taken ?" Sting asked with a charming look.

"It depends, is it to work or to flirt ?" Rogue raising the head of his book.

"Basically, I also wanted to work, but if you’d like me to say soft words…"

"No, we’re going to limit ourselves to work. I have to give this translation on Thursday, and I really have to concentrate."

The blond was going to add something when his little brother ran into the living room.

"Rogue, can we play a game, please ?"

"I’m sorry, Natsu, but I have to work this morning."

The young boy looked disappointed.

"However, we can go to the park this afternoon. The weather is nice, and we can get some air."

"Is that true ? Can we play ball ?"

"Yes." Rogue reassured him. "But in order for us to go, I have to finish my work."

"All right !"

As soon as the boy arrived, he went back to his room.

"I admit that the park is a good idea." Sting announced with a smile.

"And you… I saw your room this morning."

Sting winced hearing this simple sentence.

"Well, if you can still call it a room. I guess your parents didn’t see it before they left."

"I feel like I hear my mother." The blond sighed.

"I was going to ask you to do a laundry, so your real mother doesn’t see the state of your den when she gets home… but if you’d rather sit in your dirty laundry pile…"

"Hm… If I clean my whole room this morning, what do I get ?"

The brown looked at him with big eyes.

"I feel like I’m talking to a seven-year-old. You kept from me that you were Natsu’s twin brother and that you had an extra-ordinary growth spurt."

"I’m just look for good deals." Sting laughed. "So, what do I win ?"

"The fact that I do your laundry and your mom doesn’t rip your head off when she gets home ?"

"Hm… That’s not enough for my taste."

"All right." Rogue signed. "What would you like ?"

The young man pretended to think for a moment, before announcing :

"A kiss."

"A kiss ?" Rogue repeated, not at all surprised.

"Yes, give me a kiss as a reward."

"All right, if you clean up your room this morning, you’ll get a kiss."

"Really ?" The blond asked, more that surprised that the babysitter gives up so quickly. "Where’s the trap ?"

"There isn’t. I’m just putting a carrot in front of you, so you can do what I want." Rogue says, smiling.

Sting looked at him for a moment, suspicious, before going up to his room to make a tidying up and a thorough cleaning. In the meantime, Rogue focused on his homework.

It was around 11:30 AM that Sting reappeared, triumphantly announcing that he had finished. Rogue closed his book, storing it in his bag.

"It’s a good thing I was going to make lunch. Let’s check this room."

Rogue followed Sting to his room to make sure everything was done. He discovered a perfectly tidy and immaculate room.

"You put your stuff in the laundry basket ?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Then, you will sort it and put it in the washing machine." Rogue announced with a smile. "Unless you want me to touch your dirty boxers."

"No, it’s okay, I’ll do it."

The blond turned to the brown.

"Can I get my reward ?"

"Of course, you did a good job."

Sting smiled, before seeing Rogue lean towards him. He felt a pair of lips resting against his cheek. He shrank, surprised, before looking at the brown who was all smiling.

"Hey ! You cheat !"

"You didn’t say where you wanted your kiss." The babysitter said, on the way out of the room.

"But… That’s not what I meant, and you know that."

"All you had to do was be more precise, Sting !"

The blond guy pouted when the other left his room. Rogue went down laughing, proud to have had Sting at his own game. The brown guy started preparing the meal while the blond put his dirty laundry in the machine and started the program with Rogue’s explanations. Once this was done, he went to sit it the kitchen, watching the brown cook with a sulky air.

"Are you going to sulk for the rest of the day ?" The brown laughed while peeling the potatoes.

"You fooled me."

Rogue sighed before putting down his knife and heading towards the blond, leaning against the table.

"Sting, you have to understand that right now, I’m your babysitter. Your parents pay me to keep you. I can’t do that."

The blond puffed a little more while the brown put the meal to cook.

Once the meal was ready, they had lunch and talked, as Sting had calmed down. They clean the kitchen and around 2:00 PM, they left the house.

The park was only a 15 minutes walk away, so they decided to walk there. Sting guided them, the ball under his arm while Rogue followed him, holding Natsu by the hand. The younger one was talking about what he had done this morning while the older ones were listening and asking questions. They arrived very quickly at the park.

They settled into the grass, not far from child’s playground. Natsu caught the ball, announcing that he wanted to pass the ball with them. This occupied them a good quarter of an hour before the younger one got tired and joined other children in the playground.

Rogue and Sting settled into the grass, watching him.

"He’s a nice child, as long as he doesn’t threaten to fight you because you look strong."

"Yes, he’s just a little impulsive." Sting laughed. "I was calmer when I was young, but if anyone asked for it, they got it."

"Oh yeah ? Tell me about it."

Sting turned to Rogue, who gave him a curious look before re-focusing on Natsu. The blond leaned back to look at the sky, reflecting on an anecdote.

"When I was in middle school, I didn’t have too many friend. I was lonely enough."

Rogue hummed, listening.

"You know how middle school kids are." Sting laughed. "A flock of sheep."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"I had been changed from school because I was too dissipated for my private school. I ended up in public, catalogued as a problem child. So I didn’t manage to make friends. I didn’t really care, I was fine on my own as well."

"Not all children are as mature as you are on this point…"

"Sometimes it weighed on me not having any friends to talk to or ask for homework, but I was doing well."

Sting sighed.

"Anyway, I wasn’t looking for trouble. One day, the « popular » group from last year came to see me. As you can imagine, it wasn’t to make friends."

"Unfortunately, it never goes like this." Rogue sighed.

"They came to get me in trouble, insulting me, pushing me around. I got angry and started a general fight. Fortunately, there were only four or five of them."

"It’s still a lot, five to one."

"You must know that I didn’t win." The blond giggled. "I still beat them up, but a supervisor came to separate us. Since there was only a month left in class before high school, they didn’t fire me."

"You were lucky on that one."

Sting hummed, watching Natsu play.

"Back in the good old days. It was much better in high school, I made a ton of friends. What about you ? What were you like when you were younger ?"

Rogue bit his lip, thinking.

"I didn’t have many friends either. I was always quite shy when I was young. I kept a friend or two all through middle school, and that was enough for me."

"No juicy stories, huh ?"

"Not really, I was good. However, it changed in high school."

Rogue was silent, thinking about what to say. Sting looked at him for a moment before turning his gaze towards the clouds, giving him some time.

"When I went to high school, I was alone because my friends and I weren’t assigned to the same institution. At first, it didn’t bother me too much. There were a lot of new high school students. I thought it shouldn’t be too hard to make friends, even if you’re shy."

"Let me guess, it didn’t go as planned."

"High school students, as the same price as middle school students, act like sheep. The worst of all is that they prefer to judge someone’s physique rather than his character. So me, with my black hair, my red eyes and my scar on the nose, I didn’t really get the unanimity."

"Teenagers are really the worst."

"It was fine. Most of the time, they ignored me and avoided me. I thought I’d have a better chance of making a friend the next year. Then trouble came, and idiots started looking for trouble and persecuting me. I went to the administration several times and complained, but because they had no evidence, they couldn’t do anything."

Rogue took another break.

Sting remembered his own high school years. To his great surprise, he had finally become part of the popular thanks to his sociability and athletic physique. He had never abused his « popular » role to push people to harass others. However, he had already seen people in this case. When he witnessed it, he did his best to go to help the person, and send the persecutors away.

His parents always told him not to meddle in other people’s affairs, but he couldn’t let anyone get bullied in front of him without intervening.

Sting turned his gaze to Rogue, who always hesitated to continue his story. He would have liked someone like him to be there to help Rogue when he needed it. However, in view of what he was saying, this was not the case.

"What happened next ?" The blond slowly revived.

"They continued to harass me… I started to get depressed and have a school phobia. I finished my sophomore year locked up at home, wrapped in my duvet. I saw a psychologist and continued to take distance courses as well as I could. The next year, I moved to a new high school."

Sting looked at Rogue before taking him into his arms for a hug. The brown blushed, asking Sting what’s the matter.

"I would have liked to be there, to be your friend and to help you." Sting announced, by holding him a little more against him.

"Don’t worry Sting. It’s been three years."

"I know, but nobody should go through that."

Sting released Rogue to look at him in the eyes.

"I know we’ve only known each other since yesterday, but if you need me, I’ll always be there."

"Don’t make promises you’re not sure you can keep Sting."

The blond would reply when cries were heard. They both looked up to see Natsu sitting in the gravel next to an installation. Sting rushed to his little brother. Rogue grabbed his backpack and followed him.

Sting knelt next to Natsu and noticed that the younger one was crying is eyes out, holding his leg. He had a large open wound on the knee, bleeding profusely. Sting began to panic, trying in vain to calm Natsu.

Rogue knelt beside them.

"We have to take him to the hospital." Sting said, straightening up. "I have to call my parents. They’re going to kill me."

"Sting, take it easy."

"What if his leg is broken ? What are we gonna do ?"

"Sting ! Stop panicking, take a breath."

Sting took a breath, watching Rogue who was extremely calm.

"Natsu, calm down too. Take a breath, okay ?"

The youngest sniffed, trying to wipe his eyes with iris scratched hands. Rogue took a bundle of tissues from his bag to wipe the little one.

"Can you move your leg or does it hurt too much ?"

The little one tried and moved his leg without too much difficulty, grimacing when it tended the wound.

"All right, it’s not broken."

Sting sighed with relied, asking Rogue if they should be taken him to the hospital for points.

"No, it’s not deep enough." He said as he rummaged in his bag.

He took out a red pocket and opened it, coming out of the disinfectant, compresses and a pair oftweezers under the blond’s surprised look.

"You brought a first aid kit ?"

"Of course, I did. It’s very important when you babysit." The brown one said. "Natsu, there are some gravel in the wound. I’m going to have to take them off. It’s going to hurt a little, but you have to be brave, okay ? And then, we’ll go for ice cream."

The little pink head nodded, sniffing.

"Sting, hold his leg so he doesn’t move it, please."

"Okay, but are you sure about what you’re doing ?" The blond asked while doing it.

"Yeah, I did manage a 12-year-old with an open fracture. I can manage a scraped knee."

Sting looked at Rogue, impressed. The brown man began to remove the gravel from the wound, as gently as possible, before disinfecting the wound and sealing a compress on it. He also disinfected Natsu’s hands before storing the kit.

"Can you get up, Natsu ?"

Sting helped the younger one to stand up. However, when Natsu wanted to take a few steps, he limped because of the pain. Then, his brother knelt before him, announcing that he was going to carry him on his back for the way back.

"All right, let’s go get the ice cream and go home." Rogue said, smiling.

They recovered their belongings and went to the entrance of the park, where there was a traveling ice cream parlor. They bought ice cream for everyone, and Sting insisting on paying with the money his mother had given.

Then, they sat on the bench opposite to eat in peace, chatting joyfully to change the youngest’s ideas. Natsu explained to them that he wanted to climb to the top of the structure, even if it was forbidden. Sting reprimanded him, explaining that if it was forbidden, it was for a reason. Rogue, meanwhile, tried to remain serious, having a déjà-vu with the story of Sting and his scar.

Once they finished their ice cream, they leave for home.

They walked silently for a few minutes before Sting asked :

"A child that you babysat had an open fracture ?"

"Yeah, I had to babysit him on Friday night, when his parents were at an important dinner. I had to pick him up at his soccer club and then bring him back. Fortunately, I had already kept it several times, so the child and the coach knew me. When I arrived, the lesson was still in progress so I waited. There was an accident and Thomas ended up with a broken leg, the bone sticking out of the wound."

"Erk, that must not have been pretty."

"Yes. The coach called 911 and I went with the child to the hospital. Of course, I had to call his parents, but since they couldn’t come immediately, I was the one who stayed with Thomas to reassure him while they were doing medical tests."

"It must have been a tiring evening." Sting said.

"You have no idea. I didn’t expect to end up in the hospital until 1:00 AM."

"1:00 AM ? The parents didn’t arrive before ?"

"No… Dinner was apparently more important than their son. I never went back there afterwards."

"They never called you back ?"

"No, they gave me a hard time about me not watching their son enough. They said it was my fault he broke his leg."

"What ? It’s possible people like that ?" The blond asked, shocked.

"Apparently. They wanted toile a complaint, but the coach took the lead. He told the hospital it was an accident during practice, so the complaints didn’t follow up. Anyway, I wouldn’t have gone back even if they’d called me back. They became contemptuous and didn’t pay the overtime I worked. It was just too badly for Thomas, who was a nice kid."

Sting couldn’t believe his ears. He knew that not all families were perfect and functional, but he didn’t think that families like this existed.

"What do you mean, they weren’t paying overtime ?"

"When you babysit a child, you usually arrange for a price per hour and a number of hours of babysitting. For example for the two of you, not counting sleep hours, I had to keep you about thirty hours. You mom pays me 400$ for the weekend, which is way too much considering you’re an adult." Rogue giggling. "In short, sometimes, for some reason, parents are late. It’s happened to me that I’ve stayed until 3:00 AM to look after a child, instead of finishing at 11:00 PM as planned. In these cases, parents generally apologize by paying a little more."

"I see, they compensate for the extra time you stayed with the kid."

"That’s it. Thomas’ parents never paid me the supplement, and they abused a lot sometimes."

Rogue opened the house, while Sting hummed, understanding. Once he had taken off his shoes, Sting dropped Natsu off on the sofa. The younger one rubbed his eyes, tired, while Sting took off his shoes.

"Do you want us to watch a cartoon ?" Rogue proposed to the boy.

He nodded his head.

They finished the rest of the day on the couch, watching cartoons and movies. Rogue prepares platters to eat in the living room and they enjoying a peaceful evening.

Soon enough, Natsu fell asleep, settled in between. Sting looked at him for a moment, while Rogue was focused on the film. The blond looked up to watch the babysitter.

"You know, I meant what I said this afternoon." Sting whispered.

"Hm ?" Rogue quietly asked, looking at him.

"I will always be there if you need me."

The dark-haired guy smiled.

"And as I told you, you shouldn’t make promises that you can’t keep." Rogue replied in a low voice.

"It’s not an empty promise."

"Sting… We’ve only know each other since yesterday, and a lot can change."

"Maybe… but I think so. We haven’t know each other for a long time, but I think we have a lot of chemistry together. You’re the king of person I appreciate in everyday life, and I want to keep in touch and be your friend, even after this weekend. I want to be part of your life."

The brown blushed at this declaration.

"Well, I didn’t want to say it like that." The blond stammered, embarrassed. "I meant as a friend, well, unless you want us to be more than friends. Maybe it’s a little early, we’ve only known each other since yesterday."

"Says the guy who wanted a kiss this morning." Rogue laughed.

"I was flirting." Sting replied, blushing. "I didn’t think you were going to accept."

"It’s okay, I’m just teasing you."

They both fell into a somewhat awkward silence, before Sting spoke again.

"Why when I try to talk, everything always takes a weird turn ?"

"Because you’re honest." Rogue sneered.

The blond gave him a smile.

"Thank you." Rogue said.

Sting looked at him, surprised. He continued :

"Thank you for wanting to be my friend. You are welcome to be part of my life."

"You say that as if you had a choice to refuse."

Rogue laughed, trying to say quiet because of the little boy sleeping between them.

"And you say that like you’re not going to give me a choice."

"If you had refused, I would have come knocking on your door every day just to talk to you."

"Would you really have come every day ?" Rogue asked, smiling.

"Of course, that’s what friends do."

They laughed in silence before focusing on television and enjoying the end of the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope that you liked it!
> 
> I haven’t experienced any depression or school phobia, so I’m sorry if that sounds a little shaky.
> 
> Also, I don't know the prices of babysitting, I based myself on an internet search and some calculations. Sorry if it doesn’t really fit the reality. :) (I kept 400€ --> 400$, so sorry if it's not the right price).


	3. The end of this weekend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters don't belong to me!  
> Arts and story belong to me (Tumblr: have-draw / Insta: haze_draw).
> 
> I'm French and I don't have beta-reader... so I'm sorry if my english is not perfect, don't hesitate to correct me!
> 
> This chapter contains only 4 arts, sorry. I didn' have the motivation to do more...  
> In this chapter I quote some series/ movie + characters and names of board games. If you don't know, I invite you to do a search to better visualize :). Regarding board games, I quoted games that had no English/American equivalent, so I translated as I could the name. I explain the purpose of the game of each board game not known in endnote, but it's not useful for understanding the story.

When Rogue turned off his alarm on Sunday morning around 8:30 A.M., the first sound he heard was the beating of the rain against the shutters of his room. He unlocked his phone and opened Instagram, lounging for five minutes while scrolling through new posts.

Finally, he locked his phone before getting up. He grabbed his elastic and tied up his hair, before silently leaving his room. He looked down the corridor, making sure that Natsu’s door was still closed. However, he realized that Sting’s door was also closed.

He approached, trying to be as quiet as possible, and slowly opened the door. He passed his head, to see if the blond was still there. Once his eyes got used to the lack of brightness, he noticed the duvet ball on the bed. Rogue thought it strange that Sting was still in bed, he didn’t think a little rain would stop him in his morning routine.

He entered the room and went to the bed. He pulled the blanket out of the blond’s face, shaking it a little.

"Sting, it’s almost nine o’clock." Rogue whispered. "You didn’t go jogging ? Are you sick ?"

The tanner one muttered, but didn’t answer. Rogue looked at him for a moment, hesitating to pull the basket to try to take his temperature. However, a hand emerged from the blanket and grabbed his arm. Sting pulled him over, tipping him over his body. The raven-haired one retained a scream of surprise, finding himself laying between the other boy and the wall.

Sting gave him a smile, still half asleep while Rogue looked at him with his eyes wild open.

"You scared me, you idiot." Rogue said.

The blond one laughed, releasing the other boy’s arm to cover it with his duvet.

"Said the one who thought I was going to run while it’s raining cats and dogs outside."

"Sorry… I woke you up for nothing."

"Don’t worry, there’s nothing to stop us from going back to sleep."

"Us ?" The paler one asked, surprised.

The blond approached him, laying his head against his shoulder. He whispered that it was Sunday morning and that nothing forced them to get up immediately. Rogue felt his cheeks warm, his mind circling on the proximity of the other boy.

"But Natsu…"

"Natsu is still asleep at this hour. Just five minutes…"

"Okay." The raven-haired one signed. "Just five minutes."

The blond curled up a little more against him. Rogue let his hair down so that it wouldn’t bother him and put the elastic around his wrist. He closed his eyes, his face against Sting’s hair, taking advantage of the comfort this situation brought him.

When Sting opened his eyes again, it felt like being shaken by little hands. He blinked a little, trying to get used to his surroundings before turning his head towards his arm. He found the incriminated hands and followed them until he saw a little pink head. Natsu looked at him with big eyes.

"Sting." The younger whispered. "It’s almost 10 A.M., I’m hungry."

The older one frowned, trying to restart his brain. It was already so late ? Yet it seemed to him that Rogue had only recently arrived in his room. He turned his gaze to his alarm clock, checking the time.

"I was waiting downstairs for Rogue to come, but when I went up to found him, he wasn’t in his room. So I came to wake you, but Rogue is with you. Why did he sleep with you ? Did you have a nightmare ?"

Sting closed his eyes, grimacing. Obviously, Natsu had to ask him about this fact. He heard his little brother laugh a little at the head he probably had to do.

"No, I didn’t have a nightmare. We woke up early and started talking, but we ended up going back to sleep, okay ? You tell no one, it’s our secret."

"Okay."

"Good. Go down to the kitchen, and we’ll be there for breakfast."

The youngest nodded his head and went out, closing the door. Sting sighed, laying his head on the pillow as Rogue turned towards him, laughing a little.

"So I’m your little secret now ?"

"I didn’t want him to tell my parents, and they got the wrong idea."

"Like a seven-year-old can keeps a secret."

"You do have a point."

Sting sat down, passing a hand through his hair. He wasn’t embarrassed that Natsu found Rogue in his bed. After all, he didn’t really lie. They just went back to sleep, like friends. It’s nit like something really happened. The biggest problem was the interpretation his parents might have if Natsu repeated it to them. Sting glanced at Rogue to see him sitting next to him, tying his hair.

"I can’t believe we went back to sleep that long."

"It’s only 10 A.M." Sting added.

"Basically, I got up early to finish my translation, Mr. _Just five more minutes_."

"Sorry… I’ll take care of Natsu this morning so you can finish working."

Rogue looked at him, before thanking him with a smile. They both got up to join Natsu downstairs for breakfast.

They ate while discussing the dream that Natsu made last night, following on from strangest dreams that Sting had had. Natsu left in the middle of the conversation, bored by his big brother’s nonsense.

"Wait, you dreamed that your friends were coming through your window, by bike, but you had to stop them because you were late for class. Then you went out and got surrounded by a bunch of werewolves ?"

"Yeah, like in _Teen Wolf_ !" Sting announced.

Rogue glanced at him before continuing his lunch. Sting realized, shocked.

"You’ve never seen _Teen Wolf_ ?!"

"I don’t even know what it is… It’s a movie ?"

"How can you like men and not know _Teen Wolf_ ?!" Sting asked, offended.

"Ah, because it’s a reference for anyone who likes men ?" Rogue laughed.

"No, but this series made me bisexual."

Rogue began to cough, swallowing his juice, before laughing.

"How can a series make you change your sexual orientation."

"It’s clear that you didn’t see Derek Hale’s abs…"

"All right, all right. What’s that about ?"

Sting began to tell the synopsis of the show while eating. Rogue listened to him, trying to understand despite the many digressions of the blond.

"If you’re interested… we could watch it together." Sting proposed. 

"Yes, why not." Rogue replied, smiling. "But you don’t mind watching a show you’ve already seen ?"

"No, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it, don’t worry."

The blond blushes a little. He had already seen the show so many times that he knew it almost by heart. It was more an opportunity to spend time with the paler one, after this weekend, than a real desire to make him discover the show.

They finished lunch, then Sting cleaned the kitchen. Rogue insisted on helping him and did so, despite the other man’s protests. The raven-haired man began to do the dishes while they were bickering nicely. It was when Sting began to throw bad pickup lines that the foam burst. At first, the athlete gets it in his hair, tuning to find Rogue keeping from laughing. Sting rushed over him to also cover him with foam and they quickly ended up in wet clothes, while laughing.

Rogue went into the bathroom, leaving a laughing Sting to clean up what was left.

The morning was dedicated to work, even for Sting, who realized that his homework wasn’t going to be done alone. Natsu watched cartoons and was drawing in the living room, showing his masterpieces to the other two boys from time to time.

Rogue finished working around noon and tidied up his stuff. He looked through the bay window, observing the garden, which was full of water due to the ever-beating rain.

"What do you want to eat ?"

Sting lifted his eyes from his manual to look at him, before leaning back, reflecting. Natsu, meanwhile, rushed towards Rogue.

"I want to eat burgers !"

"I don’t know if there’s anything to do burgers, but I can look."

The paler one went into the kitchen, searching in the fridge and cupboards. They were full of different foods, but to the great dismay of the dark-haired, nothing enough to produce burgers. He passed his head in the hallway, a contrite look on his face.

"I’m sorry, Natsu, but I can’t make any. However, I have enough to make croque-monsieur."

"Oh nice ! It’s been a long time since we ate any !" Sting exclaimed.

"So go for it."

Rogue began to cook and they spent the meal chatting while watching the rain fall.

"It will surely last all afternoon…" Rogue sighed.

"Yeah, we’re gonna have to find something to do with our time inside."

"Can’t we go and play under the rain ?" Natsu asked.

"No, sorry, Natsu. If you play in the rain, you might get sick."

The younger one pouted. Then Sting proposed to spend the day in front of the TV, with video games or shows. However, Rogue opposed it. They had already finished the end of yesterday in front of the TV.

"How old are you ? You sound like my father."

"I’m just a sane person. Screen abuse hurts your eyes, and I’ve abused it a little too much right now."

Rogue rubbed his eyes carefully while Sting hummed, reflecting on another occupation. Natsu looked at them before announcing that he was going to draw in the living room. The tanner one was going to ask him to clear his plate, but he just had time to turn his head to see a little pink head leave the room. He sighed, turning his gaze to Rogue.

"Well, I admit that you are right. It’s not good to stay in front of the TV all day, but what are we going to do ?"

"I don’t know… You don’t have board games ?"

The blond leaned back. His eyes rested on a stain on the ceiling as he reflected.

"I guess we have to have some board game somewhere, but we rarely use them. I would go into the closets and the attic."

"I woke up the explorer in you ?" Rogue giggled while he stacked the plates.

"I’m just doing his for your beautiful eyes. If it were up to me, I’d still be in my pajamas, eating cereal in front of the TV."

"Like a child. Good thing I’m here then."

Sting smiles at him before helping him clear the table. They cleaned up before separating : Sting going in search of the games and Rogue going in the living room.

Sting ventured into every closet in the house, searching for all the games available to occupy them a whole afternoon. He found an old _Monopoly_ in his closet before he grimaced. Given the condition of the box, it had, at least, to date of his father’s childhood, if not more. He took it out anyway, just in case, although he doesn’t want to play it. After some additional research, he found two packs of cards and a game called _Vampire Night_. Sting looked at it, hoping that there was a manual because he had never played it.

He continued his research in Natsu’s room, where he found a _Labyrinth_ game and one of _Pay Day_. He ends his exploration by the attic, discovering other games of which he didn’t even know the existence. He ends up coming out with an old _Clue_ and a _Goose Game_ box.

After about half an hour of research, he went down with about ten board games. He went to the living room, placing boxes on the table. Natsu approached, curious, while the blond looked around in search of the babysitter.

"Rogue isn’t with you ?" Sting asked as Natsu caught one of the games.

"Nope, he came up 10 minutes ago. He told me, he had to take something out of his eyes and come back."

"Take something out of his eyes ?"

"Yes, he said a word, but I didn’t understand."

Natsu took a chair to sit down, rummaging through the games as Sting wondered what his little brother was talking about. Before he could ask himself too many questions, the other boy entered the living room, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses. Sting looked at him, slightly surprised. He didn’t think that Rogue was wearing glasses since he had done without all the weekend. The raven-haired one stopped beside him, blushing slightly under the steady look of the blond.

"I know, it doesn’t suit me, but please don’t comment. I can’t help it right now."

Sting stammered a few words before silent to take a breath. If he usually found Rogue cute, it was nothing compared to Rogue _glasses version_. How could he say that it didn’t suit him.

"You are even cuter with glasses." Sting let escape.

"Excuse me ?" Rogue asked, blushing.

"Um, I mean… I like it. Glasses. It suits you, I mean."

"Oh, if you say so…"

"How did you do it all weekend ? I didn’t see you wear them."

"I usually wear contact lenses, since I find that glasses look weird on my face. However, this morning, I started to have dry eyes, so I preferred to change my lenses in favor of my glasses. Sorry if it’s weird."

"No, don’t worry. That’s why Natsu said you had to get something out of your eyes, I didn’t get it at the moment." Sting sneered.

Rogue also laughed, before sitting down, watching what Sting had drawn from the closets. The other man sat in front of him, placing his head on his arm and watching him.

Sting’s attraction to boys didn’t go back to yesterday, so he had already experienced his part of crush on boys. Derek Hale in _Teen Wolf_ , Thomas in _The Maze Runner_ or Kurt in _Glee_ , many stars had passed. He also had crushes on boys who really existed, of course. There had been the captain of his high school basketball team when he was in his senior year, or a guy from the coffee shop next to the campus where he was going a lot at the year. However, Sting had never attached himself to anyone so quickly. His eyes hung over Rogue’s hand, who manipulated the various games to read the instructions, before Sting passing his hand over his face. No wonder he became so attached to Rogue. They had been living side by side for almost two days. It was more than he needed for that. He usually crushed on people he had never even talked to. It was also necessary to add to this, Rogue’s enormous kindness, which had been quick to break down his barriers. Not to mention his looks more than…

A hand landed on his own, releasing his vision and leaving his reverie. He saw Rogue, leaning slightly towards him while holding his hand.

"Are you okay ? Are you sure you’re not sick ?"

"Yes, I was just thinking. Sorry." Sting said with a smile.

Rogue glanced at him before gently releasing his hand to free his fringe and place it on his forehead. Sting felt his cheeks burn, watching the paler one be so touchy with him. Rogue removed his hand a few seconds later, a dissatisfied look on his face.

"Sting, stop making fun of me. I’m pretty sure you have a fever."

Sting looked at him before touching his forehead himself, not feeling much different from his burning cheeks. God, his whole face must have been red at this point.

"You should take a medicine or something."

"No, it’s not necessary. That’s just what you do to me." Sting said with a little smile.

Rogue frowned, more and more dissatisfied. He started to lecture about self-care when you’re sick and stop making excuses. Finally, the raven-haired man grabbed the other by the arm and dragged him into the bathroom to take some medicine, while Natsu laughed, as his older brother was being scolded.

Rogue gave Sting a pill and a glass of water, specifically asking him to swallow it. Sting sighed slightly before doing what he had said, opening his mouth to show him that he had swallowed well. The paler one appeared satisfied and was about to join Natsu before the blond lightly banged his shoulder with his.

"I wasn’t lying. I had a warm face because I was thinking about you."

Rogue looked at him, becoming red. He tried to babble words, but couldn’t get out a sentence. He then slightly heckled Sting, who returned him with a smile.

Then, they joined Natsu and spent the afternoon playing. They had a good time, although Rogue caught Sting cheating several times, glancing at him so that Natsu wouldn’t know. The blond usually put out his tongue, but the other didn’t hold it against him because, at the end, he didn’t win despite his efforts.

Time passed rather quickly and Natsu had just won a game of President when’d they heard a car park.

"Mom and Dad are back !"

The little pink head got up to rush to the door, trying to open it. Sting watched him, before turning to Rogue who had begun to arrange the cards.

The weekend was over, it was time for Rogue to leave. Sting wasn’t ready. He had just spent two days with a wonderful boy, and he had to let him go, just like that. It was unfair.

Sting got up, opening his mouth to try to say a few things. However, he was interrupted by his parents coming loudly into the house, saying how much they had missed them. Sting closed his mouth, turning towards them as Rogue went around the table.

Sukia and Weiss left their suitcase in the hallway before moving on to Sting and Rogue.

"I hope that your weekend went well." Rogue asked politely.

"It was really good, we really enjoyed it. I hope the boys didn’t give up you."

"Eh ! I know how to handle myself." Sting said, offended.

"No, don’t worry." Rogue laughed and gave Sting a little elbow. "They behaved very well. We had a great time."

Sukia seemed relieved as her husband ruffled Natsu’s hair, which hung on his leg.

They argued a little more before Sukia paid Rogue. Rogue politely refused some of the money, assuring that it was too much. The woman pouted, insisting that he take a little more, while Weiss slapped him in the back, laughing and telling him to take the money and not to worry.

Sting watched the scene, not reacting. His mind was spinning, trying to find something to say to Rogue. He knew it wasn’t because the babysitting was over that they wouldn’t talk or see each other again, but he couldn’t stop his brain from looping on the same feeling.

If he didn’t know himself better, he’d think he was going to have an anxiety attack.

Taking a breath, he approached the others as Rogue said goodbye to Natsu and his parents, his bag on the shoulder. He finally turned to Sting before smiling.

"Will you walk me to my car ?"

Sting babbled before accepting and rushing into his shoes. He followed Rogue outside, hearing his parents laugh a little before closing the door.

They walked silently to Rogue’s car. The blond always wondered what to say to him. Rogue stopped in front of his car to turn to him. He looked at him for a few moments before laughing, passing his hand through his hair. Sting looked at him, surprised, blushing a little.

"Your parents are watching us through the window."

"What ?"

Sting quickly turned around, barely seeing the kitchen window curtain back in place.

"I don’t believe it. Ignore them. I’m so sorry."

"It’s okay. I think it’s cute. I feel like I’m bringing you home after a first date, or something like that." Rogue sneered.

"They would totally react like that. It’s true." Sting said, smiling.

They fell into a somewhat awkward silence before Rogue spoke.

"You look anxious."

"Actually, I’m looking for something to say… I had a really great time and… I feel like I’m going to wake up in my bed in five minutes and I would have imagined all this… To be honest, I don’t really want you to leave, but I don’t think I have much of a choice."

"Yes, it’s not like I can stay with you… but I understand what you mean… for the dream."

"I feel like I’m making a big deal out of it, when it’s not like we’re never gonna see each other again."

"We go to the same university. We are very lucky to cross paths." Rogue agreed. "And then…"

The raven-haired guy dug into his jeans pocket before handing a piece of paper to Sting.

"My number… and my messenger, so you can add me."

Sting took the paper carefully, as if it was made of precious metal.

"I had a great weekend too. I’m kind of glad that you don’t know how to take care of yourself, in the end."

Rogue advanced slightly before taking him in his arms for a hug, to which Sting immediately replied, with red cheeks. When Rogue separated from him, his face was also on fire.

"Have a nice evening, Sting."

"Thanks, you too…"

Rogue got into his car nodding to the blond before leaving.

Sting watched the car roll until it turned around the corner and vanished from sight. He looked down at the paper in his hands, folding it out to read what Rogue had written in neat handwriting.

It calmed his mind, taking those few words as proof that Rogue had really enjoyed his company, and that he hadn’t acted like that just to be pleasant during the weekend. He breathed a shot before taking the paper and returning home.

When he passed through the door, he was greeted by two big smiles. He had felt that his parents would catch him at some point to find out how it happened. He took off his shoes quickly and ran upstairs, saying he was going to take a shower. He couldn’t avoid them all evening, but it will at least give him time to calm his emotions and find what to say.

He basked under lukewarm water, trying to focus on the closest truth for his parents, dodging too private points. Sting sighed, hoping that his face would not betray him at any implied question.

When he got out of the shower, his eyes fell on the paper that Rogue had given him, placed on his clothes. He remained for a moment, watching it, before starting to panic. He grabbed his phone, adding the number. Did he have to text now, or was it too soon ? The young man rubbed his face, cursing himself out loud how desperate he looked. Taking his courage with both hands, he sent a quick message to Rogue, just to let him know it was him. Then, he switched to his Facebook app to add him as a friend. The blond put his phone down for a moment, trying to resist the temptation to search the profile. However, the temptation was too strong, and he returned to it anyway. He briefly looked at the posts, too few, before turning to the few photos available.

The first picture, his profile picture, depicted him 3/4, laughing with someone outside the frame, as he lifted his sunglasses with the sea in the background. It was a pretty picture. He scrolled through the other photos, showing Rogue with, what Sting assumed, friends of his. Most often, it was a girl with short, white hair and an elegant man with long, blond hair. Sting recognized the university’s surroundings in the background, as well as one of the coffee shops, not far from the university, frequented by the students.

He lowered his phone, before the temptation to search for hours took him. Sting took a breath before punishing putting on his pajamas and going down to confront his progenitors. Strangely, he wasn’t questioned. His father was in the kitchen, preparing the meal, while his mother and Natsu were nowhere on the ground floor. Sting found this strangely suspicious, but he wasn’t going to provoke. So he sat on the couch, turning on the TV on a youth program, to pass the time.

The evening passed until his father called them for the meal. When Sting entered the kitchen, seeing his whole family sitting at the table, he thought he was screwed. His parents looked at him, smiling, waiting for him to tell them in detail what had happened during their absence.

"So, son, how was your weekend ?" His father asked, attacking his meal.

"All right."

"What about the details ?"

"I’m pretty sure that Natsu has already told you in detail about our weekend. I don’t see why I’ll repeat it." Sting pointed out.

"Well, surprisingly, he was waiting for dinner. Isn’t that sweetie ?" Sukia slowly asked.

Natsu agreed before embarking on a narrative of what they had done and how much fun he had. He related the exit to the park and his injury, as well as the afternoon board games. The meal passed quickly as they listened, Sting adding some information here and there.

Finally, Natsu finished eating and got up to leave the table. However, before he could get out of the room, he stopped to turn to his family and came out the most innocent in the world.

"By the way, I forgot to mention that this morning Rogue was in Sting’s bed when I got up."

Then he fled to his room, under Sting’s bewildered gaze. He didn’t lose anything to wait for, that brat. The blond turned to his parents, feeling his cheeks warm in front of his mother’s shocked stare and his father’s look full of hints. He quickly babbled that it wasn’t what he thought.

"I see that you finally got along with Rogue." His mother politely said.

"We woke up early and started talking, but we went back to sleep. Nothing happened, so don’t think about it."

"Oh, but we imagined nothing Sting." His father said, smiling.

Sting scoffed, feeling his face burn a little more. Like his parents didn’t interpret thing the wrong way when they heard Natsu.

"Otherwise, yes, we get along well. We became friends quite quickly." Sting sighed.

"I’m glad to hear that."

"I hope you’ll see each other again soon then." Weiss said, gently tapping Sting’s back.

The blond left the table shortly after, taking refuge in his room. It was obvious that his parents expected a little more information from him, but it’s not as if he would reveal all his thoughts to them on a silver platter. He settled on his bed, with his hands behind his head. Yes, he had been reluctant to have a babysitter at his age, but he had finally been grateful for Rogue’s presence. However, he was certainly not going to tell his parents.

The blond opens his eyes when he took out his phone to vibrate on his stomach. He grabbed it, seeing a Facebook notification that Rogue had accepted his friendship request and an SMS notification of an unregistered number. He read Rogue’s text. « _It’s save Sting ! I hope we’ll cross paths at university ! ;)_ », before answering him that he hoped to see him again soon too. He had been going to lock his phone before he realized he had to record the contact. His first idea was simply to name him by his full name, before saying that it was very formal. He sighed, trying to think of something more original. After all, no one was going to search his phone, even less Rogue. He could afford a more creative name. Sting renamed the contact « Hottest Babysitter » followed by a heart emoji and a flame emoji, before locking his phone and putting it on his bedside table, hoping with all his heart to cross the raven-haired one tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope that you liked it!
> 
> The next chapter will probably be late... I’m not sure I can finish it in a week.  
> However, I intend to make a small intermediate chapter between it and the next, to make you wait (a kind of canon omake, but not obligatory to understand the continuation of the story).
> 
> EDIT:  
> Afterwards, I thought that Sting and Rogue’s behavior could be misunderstood, so I made a small point on it.  
> I stick to the fact of the anime: Sting was put aside when he was younger, Rogue is afraid to become like Future Rogue and I think he suffers the consequences mentally (hence the depressive period in high school in this story) (+ inspired by this image: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/7c/1d/857c1d7b061e5459d9531eb3e284b560.jpg).  
> In this story, they are aware that they are attracted to each other but, given the circumstances, prefer to let more time pass before their relationship evolves.  
> I come to the point where Sting "panics" when Rogue has to leave. He was put away at a younger age and his anxiety resurfaced as he will again find himself alone (a.k.a without Rogue at home) + the fear that Rogue pretended to be his friend for the weekend. Afterwards, he is aware that it is silly to think like that, as seen in the fic.
> 
> GAMES:  
> \- Vampire Night (Fr: La nuit des vampires) : It’s a strange game where you play vampires on a board game, and you have to recover a maximum of ketchup while avoiding onions  
> \- Labyrinth (Fr: Le Labyrinthe) : A game where you have to retrieve objects on cards; move the pawn to land on the object, moving pieces to make paths  
> \- Pay Day (Fr: La bonne paye) : It's a mix between Monopoly and Goose Game.


	4. Omake: 4 days waiting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a bonus chapter spread over 4 days, which shows some of the conversations between Sting and Rogue. (Sting's POV)  
> The next chapter will start when this chapter finishes (timeline).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Characters don't belong to me!  
> Arts and story belong to me (Tumblr: have-draw / Insta: haze_draw).
> 
> I'm French and I don't have beta-reader... so I'm sorry if my english is not perfect, don't hesitate to correct me!
> 
> I did my best to make a layout that allows for a clear and easy understanding, since it is only about chat in this chapter.  
> I hope you like it!

Sent Monday, May 9, at 9:14 A.M.

_You_

« You were right btw. My bro totally ratted me to my parents for Sunday morning. 😑 »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Sorry for you. 😂 What did your parents say ? »

_You_

« My mother looked shocked and my father didn’t care, he was implying as usual. I quickly explained to them what REALLY happened, but my brother loses nothing by waiting. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Revenge is going to be terrible haha. »

_You_

« Very terrible. »

« You have class this morning ? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« No, I don’t start until 11:00 a.m. What about you ? »

_You_

« Oh, okay. »

« I have class in fifteen minutes, I’m on the bus. Life sciences class all morning. 😩 »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Good luck. 😋 »

* * *

Sent Monday, May 9, at 6:07 P.M.

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

**Sent an image**

****

_You_

« You look pretty depressed. Bad day? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I just got out of Philosophy class. Psychologically tired. 😴 »

_You_

« Philosophy classes are the worst. »

* * *

Sent Tuesday, May 10, at 11:40 A.M.

_You_

**Sent an image**

****

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I see your abs a lot these days. I’m going to end up naming them. »

« Btw, I’m in class. My friend says you have very nice abs. »

_You_

« Why are you opening your phone if your in class ? 😜 »

« Come on, there are six to name. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Because I saw your name. »

« I propose « My addiction, is to, show, my beautiful, abs, to Rogue. » »

« My friend says names like « babe », « love », « kitten »… Very nice pet names. »

_You_

« Oh, do I take it you like talking to me ? »

« It’s not an addiction ! »

« I’m gonna be damn jealous of my abs if you call them babe and not me. »

Hottest Babysitter ❤️🔥

« Don’t be silly, Sting. Of course I like talking to you. »

« I’m not very surprised that you’re a pet name person, babe. »

_You_

« It’s too much honor. 😳 »

* * *

Sent Tuesday, May 10, at 8:55 P.M.

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Are you busy ? »

_You_

« Never for you. 😜 »

« What’s going on ? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Not much. I keep a child. He’s already in bed. I’m looking for something to keep me busy while the parents come back. »

_You_

« A Tuesday night ? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« There are no hours for babysitting lmao. Restaurant for their wedding anniversary, the little one is 2 years old. »

_You_

« You walk when you’re 2, right? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Yeah, and this one is running very fast. »

_You_

« I can imagine you, running after a 2-year-old. It’s both very funny and very cute. »

« Please, be the father of the child I would give birth to ! »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I’m not sure you have that ability. »

_You_

« Don’t worry, I’m a Ditto, babe. »

* * *

Sent Wednesday, May 11, at 7:55 A.M.

_You_

« I just realized I didn’t even know where you lived… »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Wtf, it’s not even 8:00 ?? »

« What’s going on ? 😂 »

_You_

« Sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you… »

« I just got back from running. I wanted to run by your house and then I realized that I actually didn’t know where you lived. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

**Sent an image**

****

« I live 15 minutes away from your home by car. I doubt you have the courage to come on foot. »

_You_

« I’m sorry, I woke you up… »

« But why don’t you keep your phone quiet ? »

« Yes, it may be a little far… »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Because I don’t want to miss your messages. »

_You_

« You’re too cute. I can’t handle this so early. »

* * *

Sent Wednesday, May 11, at 2:30 P.M.

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

**Sent an image**

****

« I found this cat on my way home from university. »

_You_

« Awn, it’s cute »

« But not as much as you. 😏 »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Very funny. »

« It follows me… »

_You_

« Of course it’s going to follow you. You hugged an abandoned cat. You had to expect it. »

« I would have done the same thing as the cat btw. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I’ll hug you whenever you want. »

« It’ll follow me home… »

_You_

« Most certainly. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I’m not sure my parents appreciate it. »

* * *

Sent Wednesday, May 11, at 4:50 P.M.

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« My mother said yes to keep the cat ! »

_You_

« Oh ! That’s great ! »

« What are you going to call it ? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I think it’s a girl… »

« I was thinking of Frosh. »

_You_

« Frosh ? »

« What kind of name is that ? Lmao. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« I’m not very good at finding names. »

« She reminded me of a frog. She just keeps jumping around. »

« So… Frosh. »

_You_

« Go for Frosh then. 😂 »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« If you had an animal, what would you called it ? »

_You_

« Lector, I really like that name. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« You make fun of Frosh, but Lector si not much better ! »

_You_

« You got a point. 😂 »

* * *

Sent Thursday, May 12, at 12:03 P.M.

_You_

« Are you on lunch break ? »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« No, I have practical exercises until 3:00 p.m. »

« Why ? »

_You_

« To try to see you, but it’ll be a next time… 😞 »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« Sorry… I’m free from 3 p.m. if you want. »

_You_

« I have Sport Practice all afternoon. »

« Next time. »

* * *

Sent Thursday, May 12, at 6:40 P.M.

_You_

« Why did you change your profile picture ?! »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« This random attack lmao. »

« Because it was starting to date and Yukino took a nice picture this afternoon in the park. »

_You_

« I loved the old picture so much. 😢 Even if you look great on the new one too. »

« I’m going to put the old one as my phone wallpaper, so I can see it every day anyway. »

_Hottest Babysitter_ ❤️🔥

« You put me as your phone wallpaper ?! But why ? »

_You_

« Because you look beautiful in this picture. »

« And I miss you. »

* * *

Bonus :

The famous profile picture !!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was short, sorry!
> 
> But the next chapter will arrive in the middle of the week instead of the end. :)


End file.
